Alcohol-Sensing Cars and DUI in Florida

As a Jacksonville DUI Lawyer, I have represented hundreds of people who have been arrested for DUI in Northeast Florida. As the years have gone by, the DUI penalties have become more and more harsh. If you are convicted of a second, third, or fourth DUI in Florida, you will have to install an Interlock Device on your car among other things. This device measures the amount of alcohol on your breath and the car will not start if the content is above .08, the legal alcohol limit.

MADD, Mothers Against Drung Driving, is pushing for this technology to be installed on ALL cars. In addition to costing almost $100 million, this proposal is fraught with problems. Machines are machines and machines will malfunction. Anyone who has had a computer crash knows that. What if the device goes on the fritz, detects alcohol when there is none, and leaves someone stranded

It is not against the law to drink and drive in Florida. It only becomes criminal when someone drives while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

MADD has lobbied to profit off of the criminal justice system in many states, including Florida.
If you are convicted of a first DUI in Jacksonville, you will be sentenced to probation and one of the conditions is to complete the Victim Impact Panel. The panel consists of victims of drunk driving crashes telling their stories about how they have been affected by an impaired driver. The person convicted of the DUI must pay to attend the program and oddly enough, if you have not been convicted and court-ordered to attend, you cannot go to it. That means if a citizen wants to attend to educate themselves on the topic, they are not allowed to.